eiligvsekeligConfusable pair

Which to use

“eilig” and “ekelig” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,485
“eilig” frequency rank
#40,498
“ekelig” frequency rank
52983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eilig ekelig
Definition in Eile, rasch Ekel erregend; widerlich

Where the eye mixes eilig and ekelig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
eilig
6 ch
ekelig

Visual trap between eilig and ekelig

A purely visual mix-up. eilig ([ˈaɪ̯lɪç]) and ekelig ([ˈeːkəlɪç]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eilig is recorded at frequency rank #12,485, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɪ̯lɪç]. ekelig is at rank #40,498, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːkəlɪç].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 52983, this pair ranks #1,075,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eilig vs ekelig

Shared letters: egil. Private to "eilig": -. Private to "ekelig": k.

"eilig" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "ekelig" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eiligeiilg · eilgi · eiligg · eillig · eliig · ielig
  • ekeligeeklig · ekeilg · ekelgi · ekeligg · ekellig · ekkelig · ekleig · keelig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eilig" and "ekelig" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaɪ̯lɪç] versus [ˈeːkəlɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "eilig" vs "ekelig" - which ranks higher?
"eilig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,485 in our German list, against #40,498 for "ekelig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "eilig" and "ekelig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eilig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ekelig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,075,620 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eilig" and "ekelig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ebeling vs ekelig". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,075,620 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list